Let's Vote

Walker changed his mind this morning. He thinks he's going to get a new baby brother now. If you know Walker, you know how big of a deal that is. One time we tried to tell him that God might want him to have a little brother and he said: "NO! SISTER! ISABEL! If it's a brother, I'm gonna do something really, really bad!"

And that gets me thinking about names again:

If this next kid is a girl, we're pretty much torn between 2 names so let's put it to a vote. If we decide that we like the name you pick better than the other one, we'll take your advice.

Claire Elaine
Isabel Katherine

We're not totally sure about "Elaine" yet and I have no idea how Carla is planning on spelling Katherine so these could be a little off. Also, if you want to recommend a middle name for Claire, feel free. Also, it's pretty much gonna be Claire because I think that's just the cutest little name ever.

For a boy, we're pretty much locked into Anderson Dale but you can vote between that and Bernardo Demarcus if you want.

God is Gray

Last night Walker was telling us what he does at preschool and singing some of the songs. He said they say prayers before snack. I asked him if he remembered which prayer it was, he said, "God is gray." Then he said it for us: "God is gray, God is good . . . "

Yesterday, Walker and Grandma Lewis were at the store and she asked him what he wanted to get Ellie for Christmas. Walker said, "I think I want to get her some jewelry. Grandma, what's jewelry?"

We went to Tim and Jen's house over the weekend and Ellie and Addie sat at the little table for a while and had a conversation about Addie's Dora cup. Basically, Ellie just named all the characters she knew and Addie taught her the rest. It was really cute to see the two of them talking like big girls since they're both so young.

Also, the other day, Ellie put (thankfully, clean) underwear over her head and came in the living room saying, "I'm so pretty" (I think she thought they were a necklace) . . . Regardless, I really hope she grows out of that one . . .

Notes and Quotes 2

Ellie at the dinner table: "I need a Maaaaakin!" (napkin - if you've noticed, she yells a lot).

Walker, upset because it's hard to cut a straight line with his scissors: "Maybe my arm's too twisty."

Sometime briefly before Walker turned 3 he was enamored with Bob the Builder, which was fine. He also really enjoyed the name game, also fine. He put the two together one day - not fine. "Bob" and "Travis" went OK - but then . . .
Walker: "Muck Muck bo Buck, Bana-"
Kurt: "Walker, NO!!!!!!"
From then on, he asked permission before singing about any other Bob the Builder characters.

Notes and Quotes

The other day Carla was giving Ellie a bath and was practicing names, letters, etc.
Carla: What's your name?
Ellie: Ella
Carla: Ellie what?
Ellie: Ella Bathtub

Walker telling us what's in Alliance: "Walmart, Green Farms, the peanut restaurant, the stinky store, and Loweses"
The last 3 translated: Texas Roadhouse, TSC, which smells like dog food, and Lowes. I guess if Lowes owns something, it would be Lowes's.

A few nights later, Ellie in the bathtub again . . .
Kurt (checking on her from the other room): What'chya doing, El?
Ellie: Taking a Baaaathtub!

Also, I woke up thinking about this for some reason and it's bothering me. Maybe you can help me out. How does Snoop Dogg say "Skittles"? . . . "Skizittles" is too hard to say and if he shortens it to "Skizac" it could mean anything.

Around the World

Yesterday afternoon, I had a doctor's appt. To get there, we went down 172 to Rt. 30.

Side note: Walker is very intrigued by directions and how to get places. He has all the places we go classified as "places we turn right to get to" or "places we turn left to get to" -- (referring to the initial turn out of our driveway).

I guess I didn't realize exactly how much he paid attention to the various roads we travel to get here and there. On our way home from the doctor's I took 77S to 62 then to Broadway. When we drove by my mom and dad's house, he called to me from his car seat in that methodical tone that lets me know he is pondering something.

Walker: Mommy . . .
Me: What, buddy?
Walker: (in an exasperated voice) Why did you go all the way around the world?
Me: (smiling) I didn't, Walker. We just came home the other way.

I love the way 3-year-old brains work. Just to think that his perspective of the whole world is from our side of town to grandma Lewis' side of town makes me appreciate the innocence of childhood so much more!

Wenkle Wenkle Wenkle

We have oven mitts that kind of look like the big foam finger things you can get at ball games but without the finger. Ellie grabbed one at dinner last night and stuck her hand in it. She got this huge smile on her face and proclaimed "Arm in!" Then she started to shake it around said "Wenkle Wenkle Wenkle", which means wiggle. You had to be there but it makes me laugh every time I think about it. We had fish and rice, which Ellie loved but Walker didn't want so, instead, he had pancakes and green beans - what a combo.

Also I had my first dream about the new baby the other night. It was already born, actually I guess it was about 5 months old, and we had it dressed in a pink dress but we didn't know whether it was a boy or a girl yet. We took the baby in for its ultrasound to find out the sex. The doctor stuck the ultrasound probe down the baby's throat and told us it was a boy. We were surprised but all I said was we need to get this baby some new clothes. I think we'll stick to finding out the old fashioned way.

A red and purple preschool

It was Walker's first day of preschool yesterday and he apparently did very well. I figured it might be a finger-chewing-screaming-fit-throwing debacle but when the teacher came out to ask who was ready to walk in with her (they do it one at a time), Walker said "I am. Ellie, tell Walker to have a good day." and walked right in and started playing. His favorite things to play with were the trains and blocks and, of course, the computer. When I asked him who he played with he said "the red one and the purple one." I finally got out of him that one of his teachers had a red shirt on and one had a purple shirt. I hope he plays with some kids next time, though he's more used to adults so I'm not surprised that he spent a lot of time with the teachers. Poor Ellie, though. All she did while Walker was in preschool was wander around the house calling for him. What a lonely little girl.

Speaking of Ellie, she's only about 50/50 for taking naps anymore. Sometimes she'll stand up in her crib for over an hour just talking to herself or singing songs. It's really cute to listen to her on the monitor. One conversation she had with herself went: "No, Walker! Bad! No 'Oh my God', Walker! Time out! No 'Oh my God!'" Then Sunday, instead of napping, she just sang "time for VEGGIE TALES!" over and over again.

Is it a Labor Day?

As Kurt mentioned, our children were germ-laden "sickies" this week. On Wednesday, Walker still wasn't feeling well, so he didn't really feel like going anywhere - which means he didn't even want to go to grandma Kandel's so mommy could go to work. Remembering a few days earlier when mommy and daddy got to stay home, he pitifully asked the following question at 6:45 a.m., "Mommy, is it a Labor Day today?" After realizing where he was going with this question, I explained that I did indeed have to work. His response was a meltdown, which have been occurring quite frequently lately. Despite the sickness and temper tantrums, there have been some cute highlights from our week.

• Walker assumed that since the Brown's played last Thursday they would be playing again this Thursday. He was very excited to stay up late and watch them with Daddy. Needless to say, he was disappointed when we told him they weren't on. He was excited though when Kurt taught him how to tackle the right way, a.k.a "wrap up." He's been practicing a lot. I'm not sure if Kurt regrets this or not, as he's been blindsided a few times!

• Kurt, Walker and Ellie had a "Daddy Day" today and went miniature golfing. Walker loved it, as usual and recapped the whole big event right down to his favorite hole - #15, the one with the pipes. He asked me if I ever wanted to go to the "big people golfing" (driving range). Ellie overheard, and piped in with her desire, "Ella go big people golfing." Walker kindly told her that she would have to "grow up a little bit" before she could go.

• Speaking of growing up, Ellie is growing like a weed. When I ask her when her birthday is, she always says, "Dora cake, mommy." I've been trying to teach her to say November 12th, but she doesn't think that's as exciting as a Dora cake. When I asked her the same question this week, she just looked at me with that look that she gives so well and said, "No November 12, mommy. Dora cake!"

• We bought a toddler bed for Ellie at Toys R Us today, and while we were there, we looked at toys, of course. Ellie decided that she would like new baby dolls, a kitchen, pretend food, pots & pans, a baby stroller, a baby swing, a baby bath tub, a musical tea set and pretty much anything else that was in the little girls isle. (We'll keep you posted on how things go with the toddler bed - not sure when we're trying it yet.)

. . . Continued

Strep (streap, stroap?) throat. Boo. And if you go to Giant Eagle to get kid's chewable Tylenol and you see the Giant Eagle brand and think, "Wow, what a deal! That extra $0.40 I'll save might really come in handy some day!", remember this warning: The giant eagle brand saved their money on the packaging. All the pills are in the little plastic things with foil on the back and you have to peel the paper off to get them out, which doesn't work. Walker had to use a steak knife and scissors to finally get his pills.

Oh, yeah, and if you're confused by an earlier comment: It might be a Kandel thing or it might be a Wolfe thing (or a Wolfe and Kandel thing) but we sometimes refer to our wives as inanimate objects. Example:
Carla: Kurt, did you get the newspaper on your way in today?
Kurt: You're the newspaper.
Well, Ellie's got a cereal bowl with Dora the Explorer on it and it went down something like this:
Carla: Kurt, can you hand me Ellie's Dora bowl?
Kurt: You're a Dora bowl.
Carla: Why, thank you.

And, no, Walker didn't use a knife and scissors to get pills out. I used a knife and scissors while Walker played in traffic.

Labor Weekend

Friday: Took Walker to the Leopards game and he made it through the whole thing. One of the proudest moments for me came during the halftime band show when he looked at Carla and, quite exasperated, said, "Mom, when is football going to start again?" Good thing Dad was there, though, because by the end of the game, Walker was too tired to walk back to the car. I was too gimpy and Carla too pregnant to carry him so Dad handled it.

Saturday: Watched the decathlon with Walker. I asked him who was going to win one of the races and he said "Probably number 2." So we sat there for a while chanting "Go number 2! Go number 2!" I felt like I was potty training Walker again. Then we went to Mom and Dads for supper and found out some exciting news that I'm sure anyone who reads this knows about by now.

Sunday: Took Walker to the Indians game (Ellie had a relatively uneventful weekend). Prior to Sunday, the Indians won 7 games in a row. They also won last night, beating Johann Santana for the 5th time this year. Sunday, though, just for us, they were completely worthless. We left after the 7th inning. Walker said he didn't want to go back to an Indians game because "it was too bored." We told him we'd just take him when he got bigger and he said "Dad, when I'm bigger I'll play." Atta boy, dream big. Also went to Bob and Kay's for dinner and delicious cheese cake. We get a lot of free meals on the weekends. Then we went to Brad and Krystal's to play cards and got to talk to and see Bryan and Robin for the first time in a long time. The coolest thing, though, was when we left, I looked back in through their front window and saw Robin's head on the big screen TV. I had already seen her from inside, of course, but just thought it was funny that I could still see her so well from so far away. It's kind of like seeing the great wall of china from space, I guess.

Monday: We were going to go to Texas Roadhouse for my birthday dinner but both kids ended up getting fevers so I just went to pick it up instead. They actually got the order right for once, though, so it worked out. How are the kids? Don't know yet. They're on the way to the doctor right now. To be continued . . .